


Everything Is Fine

by triplefish213



Category: Septimus Heap - Angie Sage
Genre: Canon Divergent, Coming Out, Gen, Trans Characters, he gets them dw, i guess??, i mean technically u cant prove its not canon so, im never writing this much again oh my god, its not angst this time i swear, nb sep, sep needs hugs, this is me looking at canon and just going But...What if they were all trans, this took way too many brain cells ajdhfdfks, uhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triplefish213/pseuds/triplefish213
Summary: One deep breath, then another. "I'm...not.....a boy."
Relationships: Septimus Heap & Marcia Overstrand
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Everything Is Fine

"Marcia?" 

"Hm?" 

_Gods_ , why was this so hard? It wasn't as if he was telling the whole castle. It wasn't like the first time, when he'd been too scared to mention he wasn't _actually_ a girl up until the point that that was what everyone had thought he was. This wasn't a major change. He wasn't sure he wanted anything to change at all, really. It'd be ok.

"Septimus? Are you okay?" 

He blinked. "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." _There's something I need to tell you._ He didn't say that though. Instead, he hovered in the doorway, hesitating. 

His mind raced, pulling up impossible theories of what could happen before he shoved them away again. Marcia wouldn't hate him if he told her. He wouldn't be asked to leave. She _definitely_ wouldn't yell, or ignore him, or any of the worst-case scenarios that flooded his thoughts…..would she? No. No, but maybe….

Septimus hadn't noticed his breathing speed up. He hadn't noticed the slight shake of his hands or the way the world looked slightly wobbly through unshed tears. _Why do I always cry when I'm stressed?_ He didn't notice either when Marcia set down her book and came over. He did notice when she half pushed him into the chair she'd been sitting on - the best one. He also noticed how worried she sounded, when she asked what was wrong. 

He pulled his knees to his chest and sat there, waiting out the tears. When the knotty feeling in his stomach died down enough, he decided to just go for it. He was here now. 

"I…have something to tell you." He nearly started crying again. Why was he so _quiet_ ? He could barely hear it himself, he had no doubt that Marcia had heard even less. He didn't _want_ to say it again, but he'd have to now. 

But Marcia had nodded, moving to sit on the sofa. "Go on. I'm listening." 

One deep breath, then another. "I'm…not…..a boy. Or at least not all a boy! Well I mean, maybe I am a little, but I'm something else too and I didn't know how to tell you because I knew you wouldn't take it badly but I didn't _know_ and I needed to talk about it with someone but I didn't know if you'd understand and-" 

And, and, and. He carried on, trying to fit half a year's worth of thoughts into half an hour, Marcia listening silently. 

“And that’s kind of...it?” it felt like a pathetic ending to a ramble that really hadn’t made much sense to begin with, and all of a sudden the nerves were back. Septimus nervously tapped at the floor with his toes, gripping the cushion of the chair and fighting the urge to get up and run out of the room. Or possibly just to throw up. He could feel Marcia’s eyes on him and she wasn’t saying anything.

A few seconds passed like that, in half-awkward silence, before Marcia took a breath. “I- thank you. For telling me.” she paused again, then said, “You remember when I told you before, that I was trans?”

She got a silent nod in response.

“Well, maybe I shouldn’t have told you the short version. I was just thinking-” she stopped and shook her head, looking up to smile at her apprentice. “Do you want a hug?” 

He stared. Hugs weren’t something Marcia was known for, but he very much did want one and in a moment he was sat next to her on the sofa, finally letting out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He felt an arm around his shoulders and leaned into it, feeling strangely light after he’d finally said everything he’d meant to.

They stayed there for a while, listening to the sound of the fire and voices from lower down the tower, weirdly muffled and completely unintelligible. A small bug made its way through the window, flying around in circles. Marcia resisted the urge to swat it. It made its way back outside just as Septimus moved, pulling away to sit on the arm of the sofa.

He shifted slightly, getting comfortable, then asked, “What did you mean? About you telling me the short version?”

Marcia stopped for a second, then stood up, moving back into her armchair, satisfied that her apprentice was not likely to have another breakdown any time soon.

“Well, you do remember how I said people mistakenly thought I was a little boy, when I was younger?”

He nodded. “And you weren't, you were a girl.”

Marcia nodded back. “That is what I told you, but no, I wasn’t. I don't tell this to many people, I don't really see why it's their business, but it's actually a lot more complicated than that. I’m not a man, not even a little bit, but I’m not entirely a woman either,” she smiled, although it might have been a grimace, it was hard to tell. “I'm still not entirely sure _what_ I am, so I say I’m a woman to save having to explain." 

Septimus was staring, which did seem like an appropriate reaction. “You- why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t think I needed to.” She stopped. “I’m sorry I made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me about this, but now that you have...do you want me to change what pronouns I use?”

“Uh,” that was a good question. Did he? “No thank you. I mean, maybe one day? But not right now.” Yeah. That worked. “You?”

Marcia shook her head no. “I’ve thought about it, but I’m fine how I am.” 

There was another silence, and both of them winced at the distant sound of Spit Fyre roaring, promptly followed by a scream and several yells.

She stood up, sighing. “I should probably go see what that dragon has done now.” her voice had the same resignation it did every time she had to deal with Spit Fyre, and she stopped as she grabbed her cloak from by the door. She turned back around slightly while she pulled it on over her shoulders, “Take the day off. I reckon you deserve it.” 

Septimus stared as she left, then smiled. He turned sideways, flopping onto his back with a sigh of relief. Everything had been fine in the end.


End file.
